


Strength

by benswolos



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Barista AU, Ben is a barista, Bookstore AU, F/M, Modern AU, Rey has a crush on barista Ben, Swearing, coffeshop au, how the turntables, rey is a third wheel, shes lonely, small but sweet oneshot, wet clinging clothes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 23:18:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18376115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benswolos/pseuds/benswolos
Summary: Rey has a crush on the cute barista at her local coffee shop, if only she had the strength to ask him out.





	Strength

Rey could not think of anything better than living with her best friend. She had her belongings into Finns flat faster than it took him to say ‘ _did you want to move in_?’

Rey knew that from now on, she would never be truly alone again. She had Finn now after all. However, Finn had Poe. Don’t get Rey wrong, she loved Poe too! She loved having another friend around all the time. He brought the popcorn for movie night, made amazing stir-fry on stir fryday. Even shared the same literary taste as Rey unlike Finn who found comfort in movies over a good book.

But throughout movie night, Finn and Poe would hold hands, cuddle under the blanket and feed each other popcorn. On stir fryday, Finn and Poe would clean up. They would laugh and joke, splashing water on each other. Poe would sneak up behind Finn and put his arms around his waist while Finn dried the last of the dishes.

Rey couldn’t help but feel like a third wheel. In fact, watching Finn and Poe made Rey realize how lonely she actually was.

One night after watching some awful action movie Finn had picked, Poe and Finn had retired to Finns room and Rey left alone in hers. Lying awake in the darkness, listening to the noise of the city as she stared at the ceiling. She did not know what exactly urged her to but she was half way down the street before she asked herself ‘ _what are you doing_?’

That’s when Rey found it. The First Order coffee and bookstore. The only coffee and bookstore to be open 24 hours that was under a ten minute walk to Rey’s apartment. It was 11pm, the rain had started to pour outside. She had found her safety haven, and she was never looking back.

Every day she came here. After her shift at the library or whenever she had free time. Her friends started coming too and shortly it became her groups top hangout place. The aesthetic of the place was pleasing enough, littered with books and dark colours. The fact that the place was open 24 hours a day was certainly attractive too. The company of her friends and the fact that they made the best iced mocha in town was great too but it wasn’t the reason she kept coming back.

Rey had a crush and she had kept this crush close to her heart. She could not bear to tell anyone, in case they would poke fun and try to embarrass her in front of him. Something her friends would happily do. He was a barista and when he was not making coffee, he was putting out books, serving customers. First laying eyes on him the night she had found the place almost drenched, ordering a cup of coffee.  Unfortunately The First Order was very casual, not believing in name badges.

Rey would sometimes to pretend to browse books just to watch him serve customers or make coffees. She hated to admit it but she soon remembered his work schedule. He worked nights but still came in during the day for a coffee or to pick something up. Rey would be minding her own business, laughing with friends or stuck into a really good part of a book but as soon as he entered a room, she would shot up. Like she had sensed his presence before she saw him. It left her almost in a trance like state.

One afternoon it poured down as Rey had lunch with her friends. Rey was about to bite into a dark chocolate muffin when he came in. He was soaking wet, his wet hair clinging to his face, his t-shirt stuck on his chest revealing definition and tone. He had leaned back on the counter, waiting for something, leaving a small puddle on the floor below. Rey was trying to take as much in as she could but to make matters worse he turned his head to her direction.

They made eye contact, neither turning away. His gaze was soft, scanning her while her gaze was almost wide eyed and flustered. They broke contact when the blonde haired girl at the counter nudged him and handed him a pair of keys. He did not look back at Rey, instead he walked straight to the door. Rey watched as his wet black jeans clung to his ass and embarrassingly enough, started to drool.

Finn started to wipe the edge of her mouth with a napkin. When asked ‘what’s _got you so hot and bothered?_ ’. Rey had replied defensively. Stating it was her muffin that was making her drool. Her friends hadn’t let her live it down since.

It was a crush that had spanned across months. And after another lonely conclusion to movie night and the image of coffee boys clothes clinging to his wet body, Rey knew what she had to do. However, she didn’t know if she had the strength to do it.

It was a cold night for sure. Rey had herself wrapped up in a large jacket and big knitted scarf. Although the store was only 5 minutes away, Rey felt like this had been the longest walk of her life and she hadn’t even made it to the damn store yet.

‘ _Look you just gotta do it! What’s the worst that could happen?_ ’

‘If _it goes bad then just find a new place to hang, there’s plenty more 24 hour coffee shops in the sea_ ’

‘ _And if it does then maybe I don’t have to be so lonely anymore_ ’

Rey stood in front of the door to The First Order. It was 1am, a crack hour of the night. With her heart beating out of her chest, she cautiously opened the door and entered inside.

It was warm inside. As usual. However, at this time of night there weren’t many people here. 

Rey didn’t even know if coffee boy was here. He was not at the counter like he usually was. With the nerves catching up with her, she thought this could be the perfect way out.

‘ _Maybe coffee boy isn’t here, this was a stupid idea anyway_ ’ Rey sighed, feeling like she wasted her time a little.

She looked around, the staff recommendations shelf catching her eye.

 ‘ _Might as well not go home empty handed_ ’

Books would make up for this poor attempt for sure. 

‘ _The Last Jedi by Luke Skywalker_ ’ – _a tale of the last man of his kind recommended by Kylo_

Picking it up, Rey held onto it as she wandered into the next ailse.

Rey almost froze on the spot when she absent mindlessly dizzied around the corner. The whole reason she had even came here at 1am was stocking books onto a shelf around that very corner.

He heard her shuffle and moved his head to her direction, taking a few lasting glances before retreating back to restocking the shelf. Rey had already felt awkward enough as it was, her heart playing up all over again, her mind and body screaming that this is the perfect opportunity. This is the time.

She pretended to browse at the other books on the opposite shelf, a more subtle approach. A lot more subtle than running for her life. Her heartbeat was all that she could feel in her ears and it was making it hard to breathe, hard to concentrate. Her mind was right, this was the perfect opportunity. All she had to do now was find the strength. Squeezing her eyes shut and taking a few deep breaths, she found it in the end.

“You’re looking a lot dryer now”

Rey wanted to immediately die right there and then. She cringed, quickly wiping it off her face as she turned her head to face him.

He smiled at her, raising his eyebrows in agreement. Rey smiled back and went back to looking at the books in front of her. She felt the awkwardness in the interaction. It was that awkwardness that made her abort mission. Rey, slightly disappointed but already with her chin up, had started to walk away so she could just pay for her book and snuggle in a mountain of blankets at home. 

“Is that The Last Jedi?” she heard a voice say, she turned around.

“Ah…yeah” Rey looked at the book in her hand once more before looking back to coffee boy. He had approached her now, the books he was about to place on the shelf still in his large hands.

“Have you read it before?”

“No I figured I’d try something new”

“Well it’s really good. I really liked it so I hope you’ll enjoy it”

“Thanks” she smiled shyly.

He had gone to put the books in his hand back on the shelf now. She sighed, about to turn to walk away. That’s when it hit her. Now or never.

“Hey,” Rey started, capturing his attention. She almost stumbled, hesitated. It was not too late to just ask him for more recommendations. “I don’t suppose you wanna go out some time?”

Rey swallowed, her fight or flight instincts kicking in. She braced herself for the reaction. It had felt like time had ticked so slowly as he gave her an answer.

“Ah…yeah. Sure” he smiled at her.

What? He said yes? Rey had almost died right there. What was she going to do now? She hadn’t expected to get that far. Expected a no or ‘sorry I have a girlfriend’ and then it would be time to change coffee shops and avoid the awkward questioning from her friend about why they weren’t going to their old spot anymore.

“Cool, awesome. I’m Rey by the way” she approached him, holding out her hand as she tried to play it cool.

“Kylo” he said as he looked into her eyes, taking her hand as he gave it a quick, warm shake.

**Author's Note:**

> Firstly thank you for reading. This was a short and sweet oneshot which was originally apart of my tarot series based on the card Strength. It was one of the first oneshots I wrote and decided to post it. I apologise for any errors or mistakes as I dont have a beta reader and I wrote this on my phone :(
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it so much, again thank you for reading.
> 
> Im on twitter and tumblr @spaceypriestess


End file.
